Last September I took my first flying lesson. Partly because I was looking for something interesting to do, partly to share a hobby my partner Ken has had for nearly 20 years. Yesterday, a year later, I achieved my primary goal: to fly Ken in his plane. The flight went great and Ken didn't even seem too nervous about me landing his baby. Mission accomplished!
In the past year I've flown 162 hours. 92 of that as pilot in command and 54 without an instructor. I've landed at 65 different airports and flown some 8000 miles. It's all been fun and safe and I'm looking forward to doing a lot more flying. So what's next?

The next big goal is an instrument rating so I can fly through clouds. It's significantly more challenging than the basic pilot's license and I plan to get some more experience before going for it. Right now I just want to get more confident and capable in the Cardinal, really master flying that plane. We've got some big trips planned in the next few months. Me solo up to Portland, also Ken and I to New York and back and then later to Florida (and maybe the Bahamas!).

aviation
  2010-09-13 19:07 Z